Rachel Zegler is padding(ton) her resume with a new project…
The 22-year-old half-Colombian American Golden Globe-winning actress/singer is in talks to star in the long-awaited movie threequel Paddington In Peru.
The West Side Story star is among a list of cast newcomers that includes Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas and Emily Mortimer.
The quartet will join series favorites Ben Whishaw and Hugh Bonneville, who are set to return.
Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin and Imelda Staunton are also in talks with Studiocanal and producer David Heyman to return for the film, which will film in the UK, Peru, and Colombia with principal photography set for July 24.
Colman will play The Reverend Mother, described as a blithe and sunny guitar-playing nun who runs the Home for Retired Bears. Banderas plays Hunter Cabot, a dashing and intrepid riverboat captain who offers to help the Brown family on their Peruvian adventure. His daughter, Gina Cabot, will be played by Rachel Zegler. Mortimer joins the Brown family as Mrs. Brown, replacing Sally Hawkins, who portrayed the character in Paddington and Paddington 2.
It has been six years since the second film in the hit franchise. Paddington in Peru sees the bear embark on a new adventure that will take him from Windsor Gardens to Peru.
The story will follow Paddington as he returns to Peru to visit his beloved Aunt Lucy, who now resides at the Home for Retired Bears. With the Brown Family in tow, a thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and up to the mountain peaks of Peru.
Studiocanal is fully backing the movie and will release Paddington in Peru in the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, Australia/New Zealand, and Poland. Sony Pictures holds rights for the rest of the world, excluding Russia, China, and Japan.
Dougal Wilson is directing from a story by Paddington 1 & 2 collaborators Paul King, Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton with the screenplay by Burton, Jon Foster, and James Lamont.
The threequel is being produced by Heyman and Rosie Alison with Rob Silva as co-producer.
The two previous films scored more than $500M between them at the box office and both were BAFTA-nominated.
“I am absolutely delighted to be working with such a wonderful cast on the next installment of the Paddington story,” Wilson said. “I was already an enormous fan of our returning actors, but for them to be joined by Olivia, Antonio, Emily, and Rachel is beyond thrilling.”
